


The Sleepy Alchemist

by Mattagross



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Humor, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26859889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattagross/pseuds/Mattagross
Summary: Or: gosh darn it, Elfnein, please stop working yourself to death!
Relationships: Elsa Bete/Elfnein
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	The Sleepy Alchemist

**Author's Note:**

> HI HELLO
> 
> This idea is actually part of a Bigger idea that isn't quite out yet but I got really excited about this specific part.
> 
> The idea? GOOD NOBLE RED! They deserve more!
> 
> You can still read this as a standalone, this is... for lack of a better term, a demo of what'll be in the full product once I start work on it in earnest.
> 
> All that said, please enjoy!

“Elfnein? Elfnein, it’s two in the morning, we should—” A soft voice echoed through S.O.N.G.’s laboratory, the door sliding open with a soft  _ ‘vwip’ _ . It was in utter disarray; papers strewn were about, books piled on top of one another like a mockery of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and at the center of it all, a small alchemist was passed out on their desk.

“Ah, so that’s how it is…” This wasn’t the first time Elsa found the small alchemist in such a state, and heavens above if she knew it wouldn’t be the last. The aftermath of the Chateau incident had rocked Elfnein to her core, or at least that’s how Elsa interpreted it.

Despite all of the harm that her anger had caused, the alchemist still viewed Carol Malus Dienheim as a sort of sister. When that same sister approached her in an amnesia-like state, giving up her body so that Elfnein could live on…

Elsa laid a hand on Elfnein’s head, softly petting her.

It was no secret that she’d gained an…  _ appreciation _ for the alchemist, not after her promise to find a way to return Noble Red to their human selves. Combine that with how Elfnein was one of two people to keep up with her academic speech – aside from…  _ her _ – and the two became fast friends.

As such, seeing Elfnein in such a disheveled state tugged at the wolf girl’s heart.

“C’mon, let’s get you to bed.” Elsa lightly mumbled as she hiked the smaller girl onto her back. After a few seconds of waiting, her breath briefly stopping as she waited to see if Elfnein would awaken, she began the walk towards the alchemist’s room.

It wasn’t a far walk – Elfnein had insisted time and time again that her room be practically attached to the labs ‘for the sake of efficiency’ – but it was far enough to bump into someone, given the circumstances.

Almost literally, courtesy of one Millaarc Cranstoun.

“Gah—" Elsa caught herself as Elfnein shifted slightly, lowering her voice to a whisper. “ _ Millaarc if you say anything I swear—” _

_ “So that’s who you’re crushing on, hm~?” _

It took all of Elsa’s willpower not to throw the sleeping body of Elfnein at the vampire. All because of  _ one _ offhand comment that she’d made during dinner…!

\---

_ “It’s wonderful that you two are finding a home at S.ON.G. so quickly. I know you two had some… reservations at first.” Vanessa’s warm tone filled their modest apartment. Being only recent hires to S.O.N.G., in addition to the whole ‘registering yourselves as citizens’ thing, meant taking an initial hit in pay. _

_ Not that Elsa particularly minded - anything,  _ **_anything_ ** _ , was better than that cave at this point. _

_ Still, it’ll be nice when the big paychecks do come in and they can afford to fully stock their refrigerator. Half of it was Elfnein’s synthetic RHx formula, which was more than a little awkward. _

_ “Well yeah. If it weren’t for Hibiki already being there, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought.” Millaarc said over her dumplings; the other bright side to having money was actual food instead of scavenging. _

_ Turns out Chinese takeout is pretty darn good. _

_ Millaarc did have a point though. Vanessa had, for lack of a better term, acted as a vanguard for their small group, scouting the organization out. Even though the three trusted Hibiki with their lives – quite literally – they still couldn’t bring themselves to trust a government organization terribly quickly. _

_ The worst-case scenario if Vanessa was in danger was her expending a decent amount of munitions. Luckily, that never came to pass. _

_ Even with that vote of confidence behind it, though, Millaarc and herself were harder sells. The last big organization that they happened to find themselves a part of… _

_ Elsa shook her head of such thoughts, instead opting to speak. _

_ “I’m glad we did, though. It’s… really nice having a sense of purpose again. The people there are really nice.” Her thoughts immediately turned to Elfnein, an Elfnein-sized smile appearing on her face. _

_ Which she instantly regretted the moment she spotted the mischievous glint appearing in Millaarc’s eyes. _

_ “’Really nice’, hm~?” Millaarc leaned forward, bridging her fingers, and leaning onto them. “Who ex~actly is on your mind, dear Elsa-chan?” _

_ “Milly—!” _

_ Luckily, Vanessa was there to the rescue, lightly chopping the vampire on the head. _

_ “Millaarc, stop antagonizing your sister. Elsa, if you ever need to talk about your crush, I’m always here for you. Now eat before the food gets cold.” And just like that, Vanessa matter-of-factly went back to eating as Millaarc rubbed the back of her now sore head. _

_ The amount of heat coming off Elsa’s could’ve reheated all of their food and more. _

_ \---  _

“For your information, yes! Are you happy?!” Elsa whisper-shouted, momentarily forgetting about her passenger. Honestly, it was kind of hard not to – Elfnein felt like she barely weighed anything, and that was before the enhanced strength. Said passenger then shifted again slightly, causing both Millaarc and Elsa to freeze.

“…mmm... gotta… work… help them…” Asleep mumblings came out of Elfnein’s mouth, “Noble Red… human bodies…”

Shifting into a more comfortable position, Elfnein laid her head on the crook of Elsa’s neck.

It took a few seconds before either woman could even consider moving, and when Millaarc eventually did recover, she only whispered one thing.

“Get that precious beansprout into her bed. We’ll talk later.” And with that, Millaarc ruffled Elsa’s hair and kept walking down the hallway. If she just-so-happened to be wiping her eyes the entire time, well, that was between her, Elsa, and the security cameras.

It still took a little while longer for Elsa to fully recover from that.

Elfnein was up this late… to help them. To help what were effectively complete strangers, people that she’d only met in the last few of months at best, return to their original bodies. They hadn’t even asked for it; they’d just offhandedly mentioned it in conversation and suddenly Elfnein was off to the lab.

It was taking all of Elsa’s self-control not to wrap the homunculus into a tight hug while crying her eyes out right then and there. But she couldn’t – this was the first time Elfnein was getting proper sleep in weeks, as far as she could tell.

So, she soldiered on towards Elfnein’s quarters, with only an occasional teardrop hitting the floor as she went.

Eventually, with another soft ‘vwip’, the door to her room was open. Its decorating was sparse, and much like the lab it looked like a bomb had gone off inside of it, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Kazanari’s room. If the state of Elfnein’s room was the result of a bomb, then Kazanari’s was the result of a nuke.

Elsa had looked inside of it once. Never again.

The fact that Millaarc could even make a dent in there when her own room at the apartment was just as bad was frankly kind of terrifying.

At any rate, after some careful navigation not to trip on anything, Elsa finally placed the small alchemist into her bed.

Gingerly, she pulled the covers up, and Elfnein instinctively grabbed them as she did, brushing her hand against Elsa’s. A few more tears fell, landing squarely on Elfnein’s hand as Elsa took the closest into her own.

When it seemed she was still asleep, Elsa knelt down beside her and began whispering.

“…Elfnein… thank you. Thank you so, so much for caring about us – about me. I don’t know how I can repay you… but I’ll try. Someway, somehow, I’ll repay you for your kindness.

“For now, though, I just want you to rest. For my sake if no one else’s. Goodnight Elfnein…”

Placing a kiss upon her forehead, Elsa stood up.

“And sweet dreams.”

As Elsa left the room, she couldn’t see the sleepy smile that was on Elfnein’s face.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time out to read this!
> 
> I know - I wrote something within a month for once. I'm worried too.


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